Ashton taking radical stance

Mathew Tait is among a new wave of England stars

By Mick Cleary

12:01AM BST 14 Oct 2006

A chat with Brian Ashton might do Steve McClaren some good as he tries to get the national football team on each other's wavelength. Ashton is trying to help move England's rugby side away from a rigid, one-dimensional approach.

"But it's not a question of my vision, this has got to be our vision," said Ashton, charged since the early-summer coaching reshuffle with revitalising England's attacking game. "It's got to be a joint effort. If it were just to be me imposing my vision on players, then it would be chaos out on the pitch."

All the evidence from England's three recent training camps is that player and coach are on each other's radar. The proof, of course, will not come in the platitude of public agreement. It will come out on the pitch, when New Zealand and the rest start to mess around with all those markings on the training-ground chalkboard.

All of which means that the three weekends prior to the opening autumn Test are as significant as any period of domestic rugby since the last World Cup. England have to find each other in order to find themselves. After five successive defeats, England need rebuilding, not renovating. So many places up for grabs, so many players to slot into the new way of thinking.

Related Articles

Ashton shows no sign of anxiety. He was brought on board for one simple reason: namely, that he is regarded as the most imaginative, free-thinking, liberating influence in the game. He is quick to tell you that he is not a backs coach: he is the attack coach. His field of vision is a broad one, comprising forwards as well as backs.

It is a grave mistake to depict Ashton as some fluffy idealist, one who advocates risk over reason in every situation. His rugby has been experienced in the school of hard knocks. He is happy for others to take issue with his ideas: in fact, he demands it. Patsies are not his kind of people.

"The players know to pull me back if they think it's becoming unrealistic," he said. "All I want is for us to develop an attacking game that will challenge any side in the world. It's got to be all-encompassing. But let's not forget that we've got to be physical, but we've also got to be mentally confrontational. You've got to be brave in all senses to do that.

"The players have got to hold their nerve when things might not be going so well. That's why it's crucial that this is seen as a joint venture, so that they know they won't be hung out to dry. Eventually, they'll take on more and more of the responsibility."

Even though some old lags have returned to action over the past seven days – World Cup-winners such as Lawrence Dallaglio, Phil Vickery, Iain Balshaw and Mike Tindall – it has been the presence in camp of youngsters such as the Gloucester trio of full-back Olly Morgan, centre Anthony Allen and fly-half Ryan Lamb, as well as Newcastle centre Mathew Tait, that suggests a new generation may be shaping up to conduct business on England's behalf.

Several have come through the academy system under Ashton's initial guidance.

"Rod Marsh at the cricket academy told me we'd be doing well if we got 30 per cent through," Ashton said. "We're ahead of that. Does age come into it? Not really. What you need to judge is whether a player has the ability to handle the physicality and has the temperament to cope with pressure. There are signs in the Premiership of an increasing number of young players putting their hand up."

Ashton was involved when England fielded the likes of Ben Cohen, Jonny Wilkinson, Balshaw and Tindall back in 2000 against Ireland. They were all aged between 19 and 21. England won 50-18. If they're good enough, they're old enough. Ashton has not been deterred in his thinking by the chastening experience of Tait, then 18, who was dropped after his testing debut last year against Wales at the Millennium Stadium. Might not Ashton, who was not part of the England coaching set-up then, have become more cautious seeing that from afar?

"Conservative and me don't do together," Ashton said with finality. It looks like being a radical few weeks.